That Elusive Work-Life Balance Stoke
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That Elusive Work-Life Balance
By Sue Atkins Positive Parents Supernanny Expert 15/01/2008
The hurdles and preconceptions that career minded women must overcome to penetrate the boardroom and reach the higher echelons of the corporate hierarchy are more than well documented. Combine these with the difficulties that many of us face whilst trying to raise a happy well balanced family and it’s easy to see that life as a successful women in business is no stroll in the park.
In order not to lose out on a significant proportion of talent within the labour market, women are encouraged to return to work after maternity and employers are encouraged to offer them assistance. We are presented with a myriad of support options; flexible working hours, part-time working arrangements or additional days off to care for our sick children. But whilst these appear attractive and reasonable solutions on paper, they don’t sufficiently compensate us emotionally for the impact that chasing a successful career will have on our family and home lives.
The simple fact remains that many of us have no choice but to maintain an income in order for the family unit to remain financially sound and whilst there is a need to physically bring equilibrium to our work life balance, women must also learn to cope emotionally with the stresses and pressures that a successful and demanding career will inevitably impose on their families.
Women as parents have a high propensity to feel a sense of guilt when faced with the moral dilemma of being pulled in opposing directions, between the career and the family. Holding down a career whilst raising a family is without question demanding, time consuming and exhausting. The more you work yourself into the ground and suffer from the lack of sleep, poor diet and shortage of exercise, the harder it is to sustain the mechanisms you need to cope with the challenges that family life throws at you.
A knock on effect that this has in many cases is that the inevitable energies and focus that need to be channelled into work leaves home and the family short of attention, often leading to this having a negative influence on your children’s behaviour and your family relationships in general. Children are perceptive, often too much so for their own good, and they will notice when your defences are down and your attention is focused elsewhere, this inevitably can lead to a whole range of different family issues.
So what tools do we have as working parents to cope with any family issues which may arise? Whilst many HR departments have recognised the need to implement work-life balance solutions in line with regulations set out in the 2002 Employment Act, these tend to be focused on the physical side of parenting. For example, they ease the time management issues which parents experience in day to day life, such as taking time off to go to parents' evenings, or ease the financial burden of parenting, by providing reduced fee childcare schemes. Sadly these solutions very...